


Graveyard Shift

by RedSoldierBeta



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: (its only a short moment near the end), (only very briefly though), Alcohol, Drinking, Edd is a hypocrite, Edd is also a member of the Red Army for unexplained reasons, Namely Red Leader, OC-centric, Self-Harm, Self-Indulgent, Smoking, its also based on a LOT of headcanons about the red army?, like a lot, there are mentions of other characters, this is... kinda just a drabble whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 16:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11993886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSoldierBeta/pseuds/RedSoldierBeta
Summary: grave·yard shiftnouna work shift that runs through the early morning hours, typically covering the period between midnight and 8 a.m.Everyone knows that the smokers corner is the army's unnofficial support corner.That being said, it was two am. No one else should've been awake, but here they are.





	Graveyard Shift

**Author's Note:**

> Yeaaahh this one's. Pretty damn self indulgent if I do say so myself.  
> Like I mentioned in the tags, it's based off a literal fuckton of Red Army headcanons so uh... take that with a grain of salt.

In the Red Army base, there's a little corner outside. It’s got a couple of benches, and you can almost always see at least one person there. It’s known as the smokers corner, and for good reason, as the smell of cigarette smoke seems to cling to the stone. It’s the only place RL allowed anyone to smoke in groups-- unofficially, of course. Officially the only rule was “no smoking inside,” with RL himself being the only exception.

For one reason or another, people were naturally drawn to the corner whenever they were in a bad mood. Maybe it was the quiet nature of the place, conversations exchanged in quiet whispers. Maybe it was the scent that clung to the area, a sort of distraction from the normal world. Either way, it wasn’t uncommon to find two or more soldiers sitting on the benches, uniform jackets draped across their laps or on the bench next to them (never on the ground, as they didn't want to go through the trouble of one of their superiors getting uppity about it), and the soldiers would just… talk. Vent to each other. Sometimes cry. It was just a fact of the army. The smokers corner is the best place to find a listening ear.

That being said, Seven wasn’t _expecting_ anyone else to show up at the corner, seeing the god awful hour it was, but they wouldn’t have been surprised. They sat alone, tired and plagued with thoughts and unable to sleep, already on their second cigarette of the night. They had tried drinking before, but not only did they have a ridiculously low tolerance, they found out they were a weepy drunk.

They’ll never live that one down.

They bring the cigarette up to their mouth, taking another drag as the sound of uneven footsteps ring out, heading their way. For a moment they assume it might be the night watch, but as the footsteps grow closer, they realize that the watch usually doesn’t pass by this area on their patrol. Seven turns and sees none other than Edd, the unofficial second in command (as far as they’re aware) and the Red Leader’s boyfriend.

They give a lazy salute as they blow out smoke, watching as Edd lifts the glass in his hand. He’s… drinking. He sits down next to Seven on the bench and they suddenly feel very vulnerable, and very small. They take a quiet drag. He takes a sip.

They’re silent for a minute, before Seven speaks up.

“Is that alcoholic?” Edd seems caught off guard, but he nods anyways, and Seven hums, tapping their cigarette on the edge of the bench with practiced ease, letting little flakes of ash fall to the ground. “I’m just warning you now-- this probably won't be my last cigarette for the night, so you’ll probably not want to like… breathe towards my lighter?” They shrug, bringing the cigarette back up to their lips.

“You chainsmoke? You know smoking’s really bad for your lungs.” The statement is… unexpected at best. Seven takes a long drag, turning his words over in their mind. Finally, they lean back a little, breathing out the smoke slowly. Edd takes another sip of his drink.

“You know drinking is really bad for your liver, right?” They retaliate, and Edd’s face goes red, his back straightening.

“Ok _look_ ,” he starts, and the sudden frustration in his tone makes them straighten up, instinctively treating him with respect. “My boyfriend doesn’t even want me, so let me at least have _this_.” Seven doesn’t respond as he frustratedly takes another long drink. They bitterly think that at least he’s still _alive_ but then they close their eyes and all they see is Sarah’s hair catching the sunlight and they hear a gunshot and their eyes snap open.

They pretend their hands aren’t shaking as they take another drag, and Edd glares into his drink.

“I could just tell the boss you know.” That seems to be the thing that makes him break, as Edd suddenly curls in on himself, fingers tightening around his glass as he begs them not to tell him.

He suddenly starts talking, and it’s like he can't stop. He talks about how much he wants to help RL, how hard he’s working. He talks about how stressed he is, how much he loves RL (Tord. He calls him Tord. Seven doesn’t think they knew his name before now.)

It’s the most heartbreaking when he suddenly said that he was trying to fix everything. He was trying so hard and Seven couldn’t see any results. Edd couldn't either.

Edd vented for an hour straight. Every time he seemed to be done, something else would come up. By the time he finished, Seven was on their third cigarette, the second crushed on the ground next to the first. They were standing, having grown restless as time went on. As Edd slowly faded from speaking to just silently crying, staring down at his now empty glass, Seven waits, almost expecting him to say something else. Three minutes of silence pass. Finally, Seven takes another long drag and they turn around, walking back towards the bench.

“You sounded like you really needed to get that out. You probably won't remember my face within a week but… you know, just because it’s called the smoker’s corner doesn’t mean you have to be a smoker to be here. If you ever um… need to talk? You can… come here I guess. There’s usually someone around.” They didn’t look at Edd the entire time they spoke, ending their awkward speech with a nervous drag from their cigarette. They then casually pushed up their sleeve, cigarette hanging from their lips and smoke blowing out of their mouth. Without hesitation, they plucked the cigarette out of their mouth and pushed it onto their wrist, effectively putting it out before they dropped it to the ground.

They ignored the way Edd’s eyes widened at the action, pushing down their sleeve and picking up their uniform jacket. They turned to Edd and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you um… want an escort back to your room or…?” They shuffled in their spot, watching as Edd shook his head. They nodded, saluted, awkwardly wished him a good night, and finally parted from him.

In the morning they thought it was just a weird dream, if not for the new burn on the underside of their arm. Their eyebrows furrowed and they considered what they’d learned last night. The loyal soldier in them told them to report it to RL. Then they stopped, and considered the desperation in his voice. He’d begged them not to.

They bit their lip, and stayed silent. 


End file.
